


Dimensional Dilemma

by GoldenSpite



Category: Mario Story | Paper Mario, Super Mario & Related Fandoms
Genre: Bullying, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2018-12-25 19:32:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12042744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenSpite/pseuds/GoldenSpite
Summary: You are in the shoes of a high school senior with a depressing life. Your father is neglectful and abusive, and you are bullied on a daily basis. But everything changes when a storm transports you and your dog into the world of Mario.





	1. Depressed

You hear your alarm clock going off.

As you groan getting out of bed, you turn it off. Then, you look out your window. The sky is gray and cloudy as its always been. "Of course..." You say, expecting the gloomy atmosphere.

You make up your bed and brush your teeth. Then you put on your favorite hoodie, (favorite color) spiked choker, shorts and matching converse shoes. As you head downstairs, you see your dog (pet name). He's wagging his tail, happy to see you. You pet him as you walk into the kitchen.

Your father hasn't made breakfast. Of course he hasn't.

As you open the fridge to get a (your favorite breakfast food), you hear someone come down the stairs. The loud thumps come your way.

"Hey...dad." You say, your good mood subdued a bit. He blinks as he looks at you, confused. "W-where are you going?" He asked, the smell of vodka on his breath. "School." You say, walking past him. "You still go?" He asks. "Yes. I'm still a senior, dad." You say.

"Bye (pet name)." You say, petting your dog as you walk out the door.

The world was gray to you. Nothing seemed to matter to you anymore after the loss of your mother. No one in this town seemed to care, either. They bully you. Threaten you.

"Kill yourself!" They say.

"Faggot." They say.

"Your worthless." He says.

And with each insult, you get closer and closer to putting an end to it all.

Hearing the crowd of students lets you know your close. Others call it (Your Initials) High School, but you call it a hellhole swarming with devils.

Walking into the school, the smell of old paint enters your nostrils.

Unfortunately, there was a crowd of students in your way. "Look who it is." A jock says, pointing to you. "Oh no..." You say, looking for a fast way to your classroom. They come behind you and push you to the ground, as you try to fight back.

Suddenly, the bell rings causing them to run away. Your not hurt, however all of your stuff is spilled out of your bag. Your see your 3DS. You quickly snatch it up, pick up the rest of your stuff and slowly walk to class.

Geometry.

The classroom was quiet. Your classmates are all doing their work. As you slowly finish your last question, you get up and turn your work in.

You sit back down, having nothing to do.

Your put your hand in your pocket, feeling the 3DS inside. You take it out and play a little bit of Super Mario 3D Land.

As time flies by, your enjoying your game, feeling submersed into the little digital world. You wonder what's its like to be in the Mario universe. Do strange things happen on a daily basis? How long does one of Mario's adventures go on for?

Was Mario even...real?

Your fighting Bowser now. He breathes fire at you, but you successfully jump out of the way. As you land a hit on Bowser, he glows red with damage. You have more hit to go, and...

The 3DS is snatched out of your hand.

You look up to see another one of your usual bullies with the (favorite color) system in his hand. "Give it back!" You yell. The other students turn to see what's going on. You look over to the teacher for support, but he's listening to something on his phone.

2 other bullies jump in and play keep away with you. Irritated, you chase after them, trying to get your most prized possession back. Little did the dumb bullies know, that was the last thing your mother bought you.

One of the bullies raises the game high above your head, and puts one hand on the top screen. He pulls it, trying to destroy it. You see the screen slightly crack. "NO!" You yell, pushing the bully. He drops it and you catch it.

The 3 bullies surround you as they punch you over and over. All the other students do is laugh as your being beaten up. You feel a hand on your arms, and its the teacher pulling you away. The other bullies back away as well.

Suddenly, your in the principal's office with a black eye.

"Tell me what happened." She says, with a notepad and pen. "I finished my work, so I started playing my 3DS. But then, they took it away. I tried to get it back, but they fought me and almost broke it." You say, tearing up.

"Ill have you know, lying is not acceptable in my office." The principal says, clicking her pen and shaking her head. "But...I'm not lying...They to-" you try to say before your interrupted by, "All the other students said that you hit Joshua first." "What?! That's a lie!" You yell. "First of all, lower your voice, and second of all, would a whole class lie on one student?" The principal said. You quieted down.

"Now. Fighting is unacceptable in my school. You are being suspended for an entire week." The principal says, handing you a very important looking paper.

As you stormed out of her office, you look at your 3DS. Its still functional, thankfully.

Walking out of school, you see your bullies standing outside and laughing at you. You stormed home. But you weren't the only one storming. You looked up into the sky to see that they grey clouds have turned a dark charcoal grey.

You slam the front door closed, surprising (pet name). He runs up to you, innocently wagging his tail. Your frown fades away as you hug him. He licks your cheek in response. "I swear (pet name), your my only friend." You say, ruffling his fur.

You walk into the kitchen to see a note.

at the bar, be back soon

Dad

You shake your head as you tear up the note. Going upstairs to your room, you feel (pet name) following behind you.

You close your room door and go to sleep with (pet name) right next to you.

When you wake up, its 10:38. Its thundering and pouring rain outside. You go back downstairs. Dad still isn't home. "Of course he isn't home..." You say to yourself. Peering into the basement, you see a glowing light. You smirk as you head downstairs.

Turning on your old abandoned Wii, you boot up a game of Paper Mario N64. You hear (pet name) come down the stairs to find you.

You completely ignored the storm outside, playing the game and losing yourself.

The wind outside howled. The thunder was loud.

Suddenly, a loud lightning flash hits your house. The TV and Wii shake, and emits a loud beeping sound, frightening you and your dog. The things in the basement begin to swirl as you feel lighter. Your dog is barking loudly, trying to get to you. You scream and hold him. You and the dog are being spun around fast.

You can't see anything but the bright white glow of your TV. You close your eyes, wanting it to be over soon. "(pet name)! Hang on!" You say as the sound of the wind gets louder than your dog's barking.

Suddenly it stops.

You open your eyes. Your dog is next to you, whining.

Your grey concrete basement is gone. Instead, your in a green, grassy forest.

"Where am I?" You ask yourself.


	2. Transported

You walk around the area.

You don't know what's going on, but you do know that you must be in a different place. (pet name) is confused too. He looks up at you, as if he's asking for advice.

You feel through your pockets. Your 3DS, wallet, and phone are gone. "Dammit!" You curse. "I left them on my bed." You say, looking around for any signs of civilization.

You rummage through some bushes, and fall onto a pastel orange dirt path.

(pet name) follows suit, coming out of the bushes.

As you get up and brush the dirt off your hoodie, you hear a rustling in the bushes. (pet name) gets in front of you and growls. You turn to a sign that says:

"Beware of Goombas!"

"Oh no..." You say, knowing where you are.

The short brown monster jumps out of the bushes, growling at you.

"Huh?" You say, confused about how the enemy wasn't pixelated. It looked like a real monster, and it was terrifying. (pet name) barks at the goomba, about to attack.

As he attacks, your surprised that the battle stage hasn't appeared yet. The fight was happening in real time. As (pet name) mauled the goomba, it screamed and ran away. "What's going on? This seems like Mario, but its...real?" You say to yourself.

You look down to see that the Goomba left behind some gold coins and green...marbles?

"Coins and Star Points..." You say, picking them up. The star points evaporate, but you shove the coins in your pocket.

You realize that this is more than just a game. This was real.

"Cmon (pet name), let's keep going down the road." You say, leading the dog. "This must be Goomba Road..." You think.

"Am I gonna run into the Goomba King? He'll beat me up!" You think, getting scared.

Walking down the path, the sunlight beamed, warming the forest up. The skies were a beautiful pastel blue, instead of your hometown's depressing grey. You feel pretty happy, like nothing in the world could bother you anymore.

However, you stop when you hear more growling. Another goomba gets in your way. It runs toward you, and attacks you by head diving into you.

It hurts you, and you take 1 point of damage, reducing your HP to 9.

"Ow!" you yell. The goomba runs to attack you again. You kick it, however, doing one point of damage. You smirk as (pet name) comes behind you and attacks again.

The goomba was defeated.

It left behind 10 more coins and 5 star points.

You picked them up and continued down the road.

On your way to a cliff, you see a strange glass box with a pink heart in it. You punch it, and you feel energized.

Your HP has been brought back up to 10.

There's a large blue spring in front of you. You grab (pet name) and jump on it. You land softly and safely, then you continue down the road.

The trees opened up, and there was a large fortress of some kind. It looked dilapidated and old. (pet name) walked away to sniff the area as you walked inside. Strange, there was nothing inside. As you walked across a bridge, you noticed (pet name) running ahead of you.

He jumped into a bush, and pulled out with his teeth a blue mushroom.

"What's this?" You ask yourself. You put it in your pocket and kept walking.

The grassy green ground turned into a red brick pathway. "A town..." You say. As you walked into the roofed gate, you heard small childish voices. They all stopped when they saw you.

"Welcome to Toad Town, human!" A short, mushroom-headed creature human You pat the cute little creature on his head and say, "Thanks, I'm glad to be here." Then, you walk into the center of town. All the other Toads looked at you, awed that there was another human in town.

"Where did you come from?" One of them asked.

"(your hometown)...it's really far away from here..." You regretfully say, not wanting to remember. "How did you get here?" Another one asked. "Uhh...I'm not really sure..." You answer, trying to think. "Really far away? Like far from the Mushroom Kingdom?" One toad kid asked. "Yeah...I guess you can say that."

"You should go talk to Merlon. He'll tell you all about this place." A toad said. "Ok. I will." You say, leading (pet name).

You got up and walked over to the house with the spinning roof. "He already knows where to go? Wow!" You hear a toad whisper.

(pet name) waits patiently next to you ask you knock on the door. The door opens with a creak, and the old mustachioed wizard pokes his head out. "A...human?! So my vision was true..." Merlon says, scratching his mustache.

You cock your head to the side, confused.

"Come inside, I'll explain." He says, opening his door wider.

"(your name), isn't it?" Merlon asks, the star point in his mouth glowing. "Yeah.." You nod, unsure of how he knows you. "Well I foresaw your arrival. You must have come a long way. You live in another dimension, right? And you were transported here." Merlon says. "Yeah...I don't know exactly how it happened, but I was playing my game in the middle of the night, and yeah...here I am." You say, shrugging your shoulders. "Well it sounds like this 'game' of yours was responsible for this. You havent just been pushed through dimensions, but whole universes! Now, I understand if you wanna go back to your universe, and I can help you with that." Merlon says. You quickly interrupt him by saying, "No! I don't wanna go home! My old life is terrible, and I can't stand the thought of having to go back to it."

Merlon thinks for a while, and nods. "Ok then, I understand. Well, what are you gonna do now that your here?" He asks.

"Hmm...I don't really know." You say, looking down at (pet name). "Well, if you ever need help about where to go, just come back here, ok?" Merlon says.

As you walk out of his house, you feel a rumbling in your stomach.

"I'm hungry..." You say, walking to one of the nearby shops.


	3. It's Him, Mario

As you walk into the nearby Shroom Grocery, (pet name) slowly follows behind you.

Walking into the small store, you see a shelf filled with goodies and treats. Looking at all of the food, you choose what you want: A nice healthy red mushroom.

"That'll be 5 coins, sir." The shopkeeping toad says, holding out his hand. You hand him the money, and begin to walk out. (pet name) comes behind you, and looks up at you in joy. Then, you walk to the Flower Garden close to Merlon's House. You take the mushroom out and bite into it. You enjoy it's sweet but powdery taste.

Enjoying your new surroundings, you look at all the toads trying to life their lives in the absence of their princess.

Suddenly all of the toads turn towards the exit of the town. They all smile and cheer.

You look in the direction of all the cheering. Your heart stops.

You see a man in blue overalls and a red shirt. His peachy skin shined in the sun. He had a large nose. And his furry brown mustache could steal the hearts of many.

And currently, he was stealing yours.

It was Mario, savior of the mushroom kingdom. He wasn't that bad looking, actually. "Wow..." You say to yourself, amazed at his realistic features.

He turns towards you, having not seen you before.

"W-What is he gonna say to me..." You think, afraid of his judgement.

He WINKS at you before walking into Merlon's house. Everything inside of you explodes, he knows of you know. And he must like what he sees.

Half of you wants to go inside and follow him, but the other half of you wants to stay at your spot.

The sound of a door opening brings you back to reality. "(your name), come this way." Merlon says. You tell (pet name) to sit, and begin to follow Merlon inside.

The small room was filled with you, Mario, Merlon, and Mario's 3 partners, Kooper, Goombario, and Bombette. "This is (your name), Mario." Mario turns towards you, waving at you, happy to see you. You wave back, feeling your face heating up. "I truly believe he will help you on your way in recovering the 6 remaining star spirits." Merlon says.

"Hmm? Why so sudden Merlon? How do we know he's not working for Bowser?" Kooper asks. "I just...sense a positive aura from him. Take him with you." Merlon says.

Mario looks at you, sharing the same amount of confidence as he does.

"How bout it kid? Wanna come with me?" Mario asks out of nowhere.

Fuck, that italian accent was hot.

You silently nod, unsure of why Merlon is suddenly pushing you with Mario.

"Awesome!" Goombario says, walking up closer to you. Unlike all the other goombas in the game, this one was actually kinda adorable with a cute little blue baseball cap. Kooper was also really adorable too, his orange scales shiny and rough. Even Bombette's pink metal was a bit glittery.

The five of you walk out of Merlon's House, waving goodbye.

The other toads were in awe, wondering how a human boy coming from the middle of nowhere is going with Mario. You enjoy the attention a bit, walking with some sa

At the train station, there was a bit of commotion going on. The toads were wondering how they were going to move the train.

You see a giant grey rock blocking the train tracks. You remember how to solve this from playing it before.

"Bombette.." You say. She turns and looks at you in response. "Blow up that rock." You say, pointing at it. "Oh ok!" She says, walking over and lighting her fuse. She explodes and reforms, eliminating the rock.

The toads quietly cheer, thanking you for the idea.

"Rock on, man!" Goombario says, hopping on the train. Kooper hops on as well, with a smile on his face. Bombette, Mario (pet name) follow behind them. You get on the train as well. Your trying to find a seat, but all of them are full. Except for one.

Right next to Mario...of course.

For a video game character, this dude was sexy. You sit down next to him, enjoying his presence. "So, uh...where are you from?" Mario asks, wanting to know more about you. "I'm from (hometown). It's actually in a different dimension." You say, smiling. "Merlon told me that. Well, i'm glad you decided to join us. How long do you plan on staying in the Mushroom Kingdom?" He asks.

"I don't really know...I was just stopping by in town...and now I'm going on this magical adventure with you..." You say, trying to hide your blushing. "Where are we even going?" You ask, pretending to not know. "We are going to Mt. Rugged. Then, were gonna go find Dry-Dry Desert from there. That's where the second star spirit is being held." Mario replies.

"Mamar.." You say in your head.

(pet name) barks as the train starts moving. Mario looks back and asks, "What kind of Chain Chomp is that?"

You laugh and say, "That's not a Chain Chomp, that's my dog." Mario cocks his head to the side in confusion. "We really do come from two different dimensions.." You say. The cart of the train is filled with laughter.

As the ride progressed on, the sun started to set.

Kooper had just recently fallen asleep, whilist Bombette, Goombario and (pet name) have already been asleep for hours. You are starting to feel sleepy yourself, and you can see sleepiness on Mario's face as well.

You yawn loudly, causing Mario to turn towards you.

"You sleepy?" He asks you, with a small tinge of concern in his voice. You nod slowly.

He lifts his arm up, giving you some space to lie on him. As you rest your head on his chest, you feel his other arm embrace you. Being this close to Mario, you can smell his overalls,which by the lavender scent, have been recently washed. You and Mario both close your eyes, falling asleep on the rackety train together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating in a while!! I'm still doing this, don't worry!
> 
> -GoldenSpite


	4. Mt. Rugged

You and Mario both are awakened by the sound of the horn of the train blaring.

Everyone is pretty startled, including (pet name), who began to bark.

You wipe your eyes, trying to wake yourself up. Mario moves his arm from around you, and stretches. Then, the party members jump off the train. You all look up at the large mountain ahead of you. "Mount Rugged..." Goombario says. "Let's go find the star spirit!" You say, pointing in front of you, trying to be motivational. Mario nods once, and begins to walk. Your all following him, but somehow you end up walking next to him.

The heat of the canyon immeadiately affects you. You feel your hoodie heating up, so you take it off. As you lift it up over your head, you catch Mario staring out of the corner of your eye. You tie the (favorite color) hoodie around your waist, allowing your (Skin color) skin to shine in the sun.

Trekking up the mountain, the sun really starts to beam down on you all.

But then, you see a shape in front of you. It's a...rock?

It's a pretty large rock, so you try to walk around it.

Suddenly, it opens it's eyes, and it stabs you with spines, reducing your HP to 8.

"Ouch!" You yell, slightly bleeding. The rock monster grows two feet, and growls.

"It's a Cleft! (your name), watch out!" Goombario yells. You move to the side, giving (pet name) a chance to attack. He tries to bite him, but it hurts his teeth and reduces his HP to 9. You run over and comfort him, while Mario tries to attack. He pulls out a large wooden hammer, and hits the enemy with it, doing 2 points of damage. The Cleft weeps and evaporates, turning into more Star Points and coins.

"You ok?" Mario asks, reaching out his hand.

"I-im fine...thanks..." You say, taking his hand and letting him lift you up. Then, you all move foward, trekking up the mountain. You hear a faint voice up ahead.

Thinking it's a monster, you hide behind Mario.

But it wasn't a monster, it was a friendly paratroopa. He was pacing back and forth, as if he was panicking. "Goddamnit..." he said. "I am so fired..." "Hey dude, are you ok?" Goombario asked. The koopa turned towards you all, nervous and panting. You see that he has "Oh...uh...no... I lost these damn letters I was supposed to deliver..." he says, looking around nervously. "When did you last see them?" Bombette asks, innocently.

"I kinda dropped three of them all over the mountain..." The koopa says, embarassed.

"Oh...we'll keep an eye out for them." You say, cheering him up. "T-Thank you! The name's Parakarry. I hope you find them." He says. waving as your group walks away.

Trekking up the mountain,your attacked by more Clefts and rock-throwing moles. Everyone played their part, attacking as a team. Soon, after defeating a mole all by yourself, you feel stronger.

You and (pet name)'s HP is brought up to 15.

As the mole disappears, you see that it was blocking a passageway. You go into it, and find one of Parakarry's letters.

"Guys, I found one!" You say, rushing out to everyone else. "Good job, bro!" Kooper says. Mario gives a thumbs up of approval.

As you go even further up the mountain, you can see the train station. It's tiny due to your height. You keep walking, but suddenly, your stopped by a chasm. It looked like a bridge was broken, so their was no way to get across. "Oh no! How are gonna get to the desert now?" You say. Mario pinches his chin in confusion.

"Maybe we should split up and try to find another way around it." Goombario said. Kooper nodded in agreement and said, "Good idea! Bombette, you go east, I'll go in the other direction, and me and Goombario go this way! Mario and (your name), you go another way!"

These kids are gonna kill you.

So you continue back the way you came, with Mario and (pet name) following suit.

"You know..." You say, "You don't talk very much..."

"Ehh...I only talk when I need to." Mario replies, rubbing the back of his neck. (pet name) looks up at Mario, with joy in his eyes. "(pet name)'s taking a liking to you." You say, noticing. "He's wonderful." Mario says, smiling warmly. "Like you. Heh." You flirt casually. Mario's cheeks turn red as beets.

"(Your name)! (your name)! I couldn't find another way around it!" Bombette says, disappointed. "I did find this letter, though." She says, handing it to you. "Thanks. just one more." Then, Kooper and Goombario run up to you, saying that they couldn't find a way around it either. But, they did have the last letter.

"Let's go give them back to Parakarry." Mario says. You nod in approval.

You all walk back down the mountain, where Parakarry was conveniently waiting. "Here you go!" You say, handing him the letters.

"Oh thank you so much! Now i have got all the letters i've lost...today..." He says, putting them in his mail satchel. His smile fades into a pout as he says, "Actually. to be honest...I haven't just lost letters on Mt. Rugged...I may have dropped some all over the Mushroom Kingdom while i was flying. Do you think you can keep an eye out during your travels? In return, I'll offer you whatever help i can." He says, fluttering his wings a bit.

"Actually, with those wings, I think you can help us fly over this chasm." You say, pointing in the direction of it. "Ok then, so it's settled!" Parakarry says, with a teethy smile.

Parakarry joined your Party!

Back at the chasm, you all looked at Parakarry, wondering how he was gonna get you across it. "I could fly you all over one by one, but that'll be tedious.." He says. You look down at Goombario. He was small enough to hold. So was Bombette. "I'll just hold these guys and you can fly me over!" You say, petting them. "OK! Let's do it!" He says.

You immediately pick the two up and hold them close to you. "Hang on!" You say as Parakarry lifts you up. He lefts you to the other side, with no hesitation. Then he flew Kooper, Mario and (pet name) over the chasm. Then, safely on the other side, you could see the edge of the desert. "C'mon we're almost there!" You say, almost running. You all cross another bridge and then...

A rough voice yells, "Hey there! Hold up a sec, pardner!"


	5. Dry Dry Desert

"Jest a dern minute...I've seen you somewhere..."

Your group turns around to see a large vulture flapping it's wings and moving over to your group. He hovers over Mario suspiciously, and (pet name) gets in front of you in a protective manner.

"Yep...real similar...you look a lot like this feller Mario on this wanted poster..." The bird says, holding a paper. "Now give! what's yer name!" The bird says.

Before Mario can open his mouth to speak, you jump in front of him, saying, "Luigi! His name is Luigi!"

"Hmm...well...Luigi, eh pard...You do look like this dude..." Buzzar says, pinching his chin. "Well, i guess your not Mario, I guess. I reckon you can pass." And he flies up in the air, going back to his nest.

"Stupid bird.." you chuckle to yourself. You all continue to walk down the mountain, until you see a vast desert in front of you.

"Dry Dry Desert..." You say, the wind blowing your (Hair color) hair. You look at Mario, as he nods encouragingly. As you all walk into the desert, (pet name) starts panting, you open your backpack to give him some water. Then you continue walking, finishing off the water.

As you all keep walking, you see a strange yellow cactus in front of you.

"What is that?" Parakarry asks. "I think...thats a Pokey. If we just walk around it slowly, we should be able to avoid it." Goombario says, squinting his eyes. So, following his directions, you all slowly sneak around it.

It dosent work, since the Pokey turns and screeches at you.

"Oh crap." You say as it slithers towards you. It's screech must have alerted two more Pokeys, since more start coming towards you. "There's too many of them! Run!" Mario says, running away. Your group runs as fast as you all could.

Slowing down, you continue to trek the desert. The wind blows the hot sand, brushing it against your cheek. Suddenly, a short humanoid creature comes up behind you, snatching your bookbag.

"Hey!" You yell, chasing after it. "Its a Bandit! Get him!" Goombario yells.

You all chase after him, with him mockingly laughing. Mario takes out his hammer, and yells, "Hammer Throw!" He throws the hammer, shocking the bandit and knocking him out cold.

You take your bookbag back, and look down at the enemy.

"Bitch." you quietly say to yourself.

The enemy evaporates, and leaves behind more coins and Star Points.

The desert wasn't a very nice place, as your group gets constantly attacked by Pokeys and Bandits. But fortunately, the path opened up to reveal a line of trees, leading to a walled in town. "This must be Dry Dry Outpost! C'mon guys, let go!" Goombario says, speed walking into the opening.

In the small town, you see a lot of colorful buildings, with turban-wearing toads walking around. You smell sugary scents, along with spicy ones.

"Someone here should know about getting to Dry Dry Ruins..." Kooper says, looking around. "Well let's ask, shall we?" You say, walking up to a toad in a pink turban. You bend down, since he was shorter than you. "Hi! Can you help us?" You ask, softly patting his head.

He blushes and says, "Yeah..what do you need?" "Can you help me and my friends find the Dry Dry Ruins?" You ask. The toad nods and says, "Getting there is easy. You just have to find Moustafa. He knows how to get there." "Thank you! C'mon Mario." You all look through town to find this Moustafa person.

Then, you see a short mouse, wrapped up in a silk blanket.


	6. Nice Guy

The short little mouse looked up at your group.

"Hi...umm do you know how to get to Dry Dry Ruins?" You ask him. "Someone who gives things is nice, yes, very nice. Nice guys get told nice stuff." He says, not answering your question.

"Ok..." You say, smiling and opening your bookbag. You have 3 mushrooms, a dried fruit, another bottle of water, and some honey syrup. "I'll give you...a mushroom..." You say, taking one out. You hand it to Mario, who hands it to the little mouse.

"Ah! You give me something! You must be nice. If your a very nice guy, you'll give me something more."

You reach into your bookbag again, handing him another mushroom.

"You give me many things. Very nice guy, yes, very nice. My name is Sheek. I trade in information, things others do not know. So, nice guy, what would you like to know?" Mario clears his throat and asks, "We are trying to get to the ruins. Do you know how to get there?"

"You must see Mr. Moustafa to find the resting place of Dry Dry Ruins. He is a descendant of the great robbers who built this town. He is here, but only his close followers know. I could tell his secret, but only to the nicest of nice guys, yes. If you still seek knowledge, you must give me something more, yes, you understand?" Sheek says.

You reach into your bag for the final time, and give him another mushroom.

"How do we see Moustafa?" Bombette asks.

"To find him, go to the shop in this town. Buy a Dried Shroom, then a Dusty Hammer. You must buy them in the correct order. It is a secret sign known to those loyal to Moustafa. If you buy these things in the correct order, the owner of the shop will let you see Mr. Moustafa." Sheek says.

You thank him for his time, along with his vast amount of knowledge.

"Well, good bye. I wish you luck in finding Moustafa." Sheek says, as you walk away.

You go into the nearby store, and Mario does what Sheek said, buying a Dried Shroom, and then a Dusty Hammer. The little purple shopkeeper mouse's eyes lit up, and he runs over to you. "What ho! Buying a Dusty Hammer after a Dried Shroom is a secret sign only friends of Moustafa would know! That means your in with him! Hey brother, good to meet you! Do you have any questions you need answered?" He says.

You ask him about Moustafa.

"He's usually up on the highest part of Dry Dry Outpost. Just keep going up, my man!" He says.

You all look around town, and end up at the same building that Sheek used to be, but he was gone now. As if on cue, (pet name) sticks his head up and begins to sniff. He goes into the house, sniffing everywhere. He barks as if telling you to follow him.

It seems he has discovered a pile of boxes strangely placed like stairs. (pet name) barks as he goes up the boxes, eventually going up on the ceiling. As you and your group chase after him, you hop over buildings, similar to a thief, sneaking around. As you get to the end of the row of buildings, you find one of Parakarry's letters, giving it to him. Then, there's a small house on top of one of the buildings. You knock on the door.

"Come in." A familiar voice says.

Your group walks in to see...Sheek?

"Huh?" Mario says, confused.

"Hey nice guy, we meet again. I'm glad you found me." Sheek says. Suddenly, he takes off his cape, revealing his green fur. "I'm Moustafa. I'm the one you've been seeking this whole time. When I'm out and about in Dry Dry Outpost, I use the name Sheek." he says.

"It's always good to meet a geniunely nice guy. I meet nice people all the time, but you two are the nicest people ive met so far. Your name is Mario and (your name), yes? Ive heard that you want to go to Dry Dry Ruins."

Mario nods. "Yes, that's correct." You say.

"I have a feeling you are on a important journey, so i will tell you the secret. Dry Dry Ruins is a very important place, my ancestors have watched over it for many generations. If i do not keep evil folk out of the ruins, who will?"

He walks over to a small dusty chest, and opens it. Then he reaches inside, and hands a large pink gemstone to Mario.

"It's a Pulse Stone. It is the key to finding the ruins. The closer you get to it, the brighter it will glow. Follow where it leads you. Find the place where it glows the brightest and use it to open the way! Good luck!" Moustafa says, waving to you as your group walks out of the small house.

"Back to the Desert!" You say, pointing to the town exit.

You all run back into the hot sea of sand, and pull of the Pulse Stone. It feels as if it's pulling you towards a direction. You follow where it's trying to lead you similar to a compass. Eventually, it starts to glow a pearly white, telling you your getting closer. The stone eventually leads you to a open area where a large rock sat. There's a hole there that is the perfect shape for the Pulse Stone.

"I think you have to put it in there." You say, looking at Mario.

He nods as he gently places the stone inside.

Suddenly, the rock shakes as it sinks into the sand. The wind picks up, and the sky turns dark.

You hold your hands in front of your face as the sand blows up into a tornado. (pet name) barks at all the noise. You can barely see it, but a large castle is coming out the sand. Mario has his hands out, trying to find you in the sandy wind. You take his hand, letting him know where you are. He pulls you close as the sandy wind intensifies.

Then...it slows down. The wind dies down, making your vision clearer.

The kids and Parakarry run over to you. "WOAH! THAT WAS COOL!" Goombario says. You all look up at the large sandstone castle.

"C'mon. Lets go get the star spirit." You say, still holding Mario's hand.

You all go up the stairs into the large castle.


End file.
